Real or fake? Photo shows king cobra in AMK carpark

A photo showing what is said to be a king cobra at a multi-storey carpark in Ang Mo Kio has gone viral online and caused much ado among netizens.

But do not panic yet: Stomp did a check to see if we could verify the picture's authenticity.

The image had been posted on Facebook by a netizen, who said in his caption that the "rare" sight was captured by a cleaner yesterday afternoon (July 29) at a multi-storey carpark in Ang Mo Kio.

When contacted by Stomp, the user said that someone had forwarded the picture to him and that he does not have any other details about the sighting.

Responding to media queries, a spokesman for Ang Mo Kio Town Council told Stomp that it did not receive any reports of a king cobra at a multi-storey carpark in the estate.

The Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) said it did not get any such reports too, in response to Stomp queries.

Deputy Chief Executive of ACRES, Mr Kalai Vanan Balakrishnan added, "In an open area such as a carpark, snakes will try to run away, especially king cobras who are shy animals.

"Although reptiles are highly adaptable, it does not make sense for the king cobra to be at a multi-storey carpark,

"The king cobra would most likely be fixated on the photographer too, instead of it looking at a different angle, unless there was someone standing there as well."

Stomp's design team also did an analysis on the photo and found signs of inconsistency.

Upon zooming into the left-hand side of the snake in question, a greenish tinge can be spotted.

In addition, missing pixels imply that part of the snake's body had been cropped out.

Browse the gallery above to get a closer look, and let us know if you think the photo is real or fake by leaving a comment below.